The present disclosure contemplates that mining operations involve large vehicles, including mining trucks and shovels. Moving such large vehicles is conventionally a time-consuming process due to safety concerns and difficulties in navigating while driving and/or parking.
One use of large vehicles in mining operations includes transporting excavated materials (e.g., soil, rock, ore, coal, sand) around and/or away from a mining site. Conventional mining trucks include a cab for the vehicle's operator and a truck body for receiving and hauling material. Many vehicle operations, including aligning a vehicle under a shovel to receive material from a shovel (i.e., spotting), involve difficult and/or dangerous maneuvers.
When spotting a large vehicle such as a mining truck near a shovel, an operator must align the mining truck substantially near and under the shovel to reduce spillage of material during transfer from the shovel to the mining truck's truck body. At the same time, the mining truck operator must be cautious to avoid backing into the shovel during the spotting process. Accidents may occur or respotting may be necessary due to limited visibility and/or lack of operator skill. If an operator requires multiple attempts to properly spot the mining truck under the shovel, time and fuel may be wasted during the respotting process. Repositioning the shovel relative to the mining truck is slow, impractical, and dangerous.
There are several existing methods for vehicle-assisted manuvearing for trucks. International Publication No. WO 2010/064989 to Hilliges, et al., for example, relates to backing up a truck to a loading dock for loading and/or unloading cargo. Hillegas relates to a moving truck operating in a reversing direction to a fixed loading dock. Hillegas system and method attempts to avoid unwanted contact between truck and the loading dock. The problem addressed by Hillegas is less complex than that posed in mining environments. In mining environments, the location of excavation loading zones may vary based on the progress and speed of mining activities, the requirements of the mining shovel, and/or considerations of the mining environment. Additionally, Hillegas does not address operator interaction associated with manuvearing a truck.
In an effort to increase efficiency of truck operation to avoid wasting time to avoid respotting a mining truck to receive a load from a shovel, and to avoid truck accidents, a semi-automatic or automatic system and/or process may be beneficial.